Paragon Porsche Group C GTP at Nurburgring 17/06/2007

Sumpter wins in Germany

Mark Sumpter took his first win in the Group C/GTP series for Paragon Porsche at Nurburgring over the weekend of 16/17 June.

Sumpter, from Sussex-based Paragon Porsche, was racing his Le Mans-style Porsche 962 Group C in the race series for classic sports cars of the late 1980s and early 1990s.   

Racing the car in dry conditions for the first time, Mark had a great race at the German circuit to win the 40-minute race. "I got pole by over a second and led the race from the start," said Mark. However, it was a demanding race as he came under constant pressure from David Mercer, Fredy Kumschick and Justin Law. "After half an hour, David Mercer was only two seconds behind me, so it was a really tough race," said Mark.  

Into the last quarter of the race, Sumpter finally had some respite from the challenge of Mercer. "I had a bit of luck with backmarkers and he lost out a bit, so the gap was about 11 seconds at the flag. That was my first dry race in this car and it went really well."  His Porsche is one of the most famous cars of its type and was the last Porsche to win a round of the World Sportscar Championship in the Group C era. 

The series continues at the classic French Le Mans venue in early July before returning to the UK for two races at the Silverstone Classic meeting on 28/29 July.